Video: Fox News picks up CBO-White House meeting story

posted at 11:36 am on July 22, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Fox News picks up on my story from yesterday, although they don’t credit Hot Air with it. Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly both raise eyebrows over the meeting between CBO director Douglas Elmendorf and President Barack Obama, and include the estimable John Fund of the Wall Street Journal in their debate. John questions whether Obama intended to intimidate Elmendorf, but there isn’t much difference between intimidating and overawing an independent voice in this debate. Click on the image to watch RCP’s video of the clip (via Yid with Lid):

Be sure to read my original post for the background, but Fund covers most of it pretty well. Fox talked with people in the Bush administration to find out whether Bush ever “ordered” a meeting with a CBO director, or held one at all, and they claim it never happened. As both Fund and I point out, the White House has its own budget office (the OMB), and its current director was Elmendorf’s direct predecessor (Peter Orszag). If Obama needed clarification of CBO’s analysis or processes, he could get them from Orszag. The only purpose Obama would have in meeting with Elmendorf would be to press him to bend his analysis more favorably towards ObamaCare — which is grossly inappropriate.

Fox says they will continue to update this story as they gather more reactions. Stay tuned.

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Hasn’t ACORN been tasked with providing CBO estimates under the leadership of the new CBO czar yet?

Wine_N_Dine on July 22, 2009 at 12:45 PM

Actually, ACORN is more of a liaison between the administration and the CBO. They help communicate the message of filthy liar in the White House by doing stuff like showing up at Elmendorf’s kids’ school or mentioning what a shame it would be if the Elmendorf house caught fire some day when nobody was home. That good old Chicago friendliness the thug in charge is known for.

Aren’t there tapes of this meeting that can be released under FOIA authority? After all, if the meeting was completely on the up and up, there wouldn’t be any gaps or unexplained erasures, would there?

Jamie Colby: Attending the University of Miami International School of Business at age 14, she received a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting as well as her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law at age 22.[Class of 83]

Jamie was born in 1961! 48? Wow! She is luscious! I could definately see her and Megyn in a pillow fight!

She is married. Crap!

Mr_Magoo on July 22, 2009 at 12:11 PM

Thanks for running the numbers on Jamie. I read her impressive resume on the FOX news website, but I didn’t “crunch” the numbers and figure out her age.

Hard to believe she’s 48! She looks 23. What a woman.

She has been wearing too much makeup lately though. Personally I think women look best with a minimum of face paint.

So far, Mr. Obama has gotten everything he wanted with no opposition. How he handles the opposition to his health care non-plan will be determined by which of his heroes he emulates. If Chavez, he will jawbone, jawbone, jawbone and then just reach out and seize power by novel means – see the auto industry nationalization via bankruptcy law. If Castro, somebody, perhaps lots of somebodies, will be going to jail. Alcee Hastings’ emergency camps (HR 625) may come in pretty handy sooner than you think.

This man should resign from the CBO position, as anything he says now will be tainted after this meeting. Why he didn’t have the ethical values to refuse on the grounds of staying independent is beyond me. Guess I should not expect that because there is no “ETHICS” in the government.
Most absurd terms I hear are “Congressional Ethics” and “House or Senate Intelligence Committees”. No “INTELLIGENCE” there either.